Representative for Africa visits SCHMID

11.10.2016 |

Günter Nooke informs himself about the experiences of the equipment manufacturer

Günter Nooke visited the Freudenstadt-based family business on Saturday. Earlier this week he accompanied Angela Merkel on a trip to Africa. The Federal Chancellor’s Personal Representative for Africa at the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development is committed to improve economic relations and sustainable growth in Africa.

With regard to 54 different countries in Africa he is confronted with crucial questions: How can the positive growth trend have a noticeable impact on the life situation of the majority of the population? Can and will African decision-makers utilize this growth in order to struggle against the widespread poverty in large parts of Africa? How can Africa tap into its economic potentials and natural resources so as to contribute to sustainable development?

The search for an answer will inevitably lead to renewable power generation with photovoltaics – and consequently to the globally active SCHMID Group: The company with its headquarters in Freudenstadt builds machines and automation systems, also for the production of solar cells. There have been and still are projects for the supply of systems to Africa. According to Dr. Christian Buchner, Head of the SCHMID Business Unit Photovoltaics, the political and legal framework conditions in Africa are still problematic, but the potential is huge. This is also Günter Nooke’s assessment. For this reason, he visited the SCHMID headquarters in Freudenstadt to exchange experiences and to reduce barriers later.

As a part of the meeting Dr. Christian Buchner presented the production and the technology center to the Representative for Africa. There the new processes are developed and systems are tested. Günter Nooke was impressed by the know-how of the company founded in 1864, which forms the basis for technological leadership in the PV industry.

In recent years SCHMID has developed energy storage units on the basis of Vanadium Redox Flow Technology for the efficient storage of electricity from renewable energies. This allows to flexibly scale capacity and performance. With this the innovation driver has opened up another business area that Günter Nooke also considers to be predestined for Africa. Combined with solar modules from African production, a decentralized power supply could be built up and sustainable growth could be created.

Besides the visit at SCHMID Hans-Joachim Fuchtel (Member of German Parliament) invited Günther Nooke (Representative for Africa) to visit the association “Helfende Hände e.V.” (Helping Hands) based in Nagold, where he talked with Nigerian refugees in Altensteig.